India is expected to see coastal bulk freight traffic rising 20%/year through 2025 to 750 million mt/year from 150-250 million mt currently, a joint study by consultant McKinsey & Co and AECOM showed Tuesday.

Image: nieuwsbladtransport

The study, for the Indian Ministry of Shipping, said container volume at Indian ports would reach 21 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) by 2025.

Indian ports had handled 10.7 million TEU of container cargoes in 2013/14, a figure that has been rising 8%/year over the past decade.

The report suggested tax reductions to encourage bunkering in Indian waters and promote coastal shipping.

Local media reported Tuesday that India Finance Minister Arun Jaitley may propose opening four new major ports at an estimated cost of $4.7 billion in the nation's 2016/17 budget.

The new major ports would be at Dahanu, Maharashtra; Colachel, Tamil Nadu; Sagar, West Bengal; and Dugarajapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, media suggest.